Chapter 18

Hakokun. Only one person ever called him that. Laurel Anamia. It was her private nickname for him, one she only used during their childhood. As for the vacation she was referring to…

“Our family trip to Takogashi.”

Back when they were little, Hakade and Laurel Anamia’s family decided to go on a trip together. The two had been really close. Laurel Anamia’s parents paid for the entire trip, and it became one of the few times Hakade left his hometown before the war.

A memory all four of them share, as the girls received Laurel Anamia’s memories.

“Wait, does that mean…?”

Ann reached up to her mask and took it off. The face behind it was Laurel Anamia’s.

“Yes, it’s me. I’m the original Laurel Anamia.”

Her voice sounded the same. A thick white mist replaced the left half of her body. Hakade couldn’t see anything there, nothing but the mist.

“Wha- what happened to you?”

“When the first missile struck, I wasn’t home. I was exposed to intense maganium radiation.”

Things that shouldn’t be possible became possible. Things that didn’t previously exist now exist. Even most of the world’s top mages didn’t understand how their own magic worked. They just knew that it now existed.

That day, the rules of this world changed forever. Things became inconsistent, difficult. Science turned from an exact field of study into a partial guessing game. Some materials inside textbooks needed to be updated for the first time in centuries.

And, for the first time in the world, a single person was split into three.

Right after the war, people kept misunderstanding Laurel Anamia as triplets. They didn’t believe Hakade when he told them the three came from the same person. They shared memories; they had the same fingerprint. Doctors tried looking for the difference between them, but they came out empty-handed.

“I was with my parents.”

Laurel, Ana, and Mia all gasped. Their memories from the time they came to be were fuzzy. They couldn’t remember what they were doing when that happened. This shared lapse in memory made deciding who was the original difficult. But that would make sense if none of them was the original.

“We tried evacuating, but failed. They died, trapped in a battle not long after.”

Hakade tried recalling his memories. Now that he thought about it, there was a one-day gap between the missile strikes and him discovering Laurel, Ana, and Mia.

“I managed to return home and recover some valuables. But, Wananera had turned into a battleground, so I left as soon as I could.”

After discovering the girls, they couldn’t leave the city. An intense battle raged on, bullets and attacks rained from the sky. Staying home was far from safe, but Hakade’s parents decided it was better compared to going out.

The seven stayed at home, looking out, waiting for when they could leave. His parents and his brother never received their chance. They paid the ultimate price.

Had they not done what they did, Hakade and the girls would have been burnt along with their house. None of them would be here.

“Is that… Is that when we came into being?” Ana asked.

Even to this day, the circumstances regarding their appearance remain a mystery.

“Maybe, I never got the chance to see you again, until now.”

“Wait… is that fear?”

Ann nodded. “Yes, you feel that way because I am the original. I am superior to you.”

She didn’t say it in a condescending tone. She said it as if it were the truth, a simple yet undisputable fact.

“Whenever you harbor strong feelings against me, you harbor it against yourself. You cannot exist without me.”

Her words stunned the group. No one could say anything. All of them, including Hakade, stared at her speechless.

She continued, “Had I died that day, you wouldn't have existed. Even if you now live independent of me, with the lack of knowledge in regards to this matter… that code must have been written deep into your souls. You simply cannot go against me.”

Laurel gritted her teeth. Maybe she wanted to prove her wrong, as she reached out for the handgun hanging on her belt. Her hand shivered, and she couldn't grip it. She knocked the gun down onto the floor.

Hakade never saw her wield the gun. He even forgot Laurel had her own firearm. This was the first time she held it, although she failed to even aim.

“Wh- Why?”

“And not just you. You’re not the only ones that exist because of me. There is another.”

Laurel clenched her fist, her pupils dilated. Her breathing became quick and unstable.

“Laurel, are you okay?” Hakade asked in a panic.

“I- I don’t know!” She clenched her chest, falling to her knees.

“... You don’t have to be worried.”

Ann kneeled in front of Laurel and touched Laurel’s shoulder. Laurel's breathing stabilized. Ann reached out and gave her a hug.

“I never intend to do any harm to any of you. I… just want to go on one last trip with Hakade,” she whispered, her voice weak and frail.

Ann turned toward the train’s door and pressed the button, opening it.

“I won’t exist for much longer. I will soon disappear, as if I never existed. This trip… didn’t go the way I expected it to, but thank you for taking me this far.” She stepped out into the darkness of the night sky and disappeared.

•••

“What was that…”

The four sat in the passenger carriage, all with their own thoughts. Ann had left. They technically didn’t complete the job, but she didn’t ask for a refund.

“What does she mean by she’s going to disappear?” Mia asked. “Is she really going to?”

“I mean, we got our payment. We don’t need to think about her,” Laurel said.

Ana gazed at her, holding her staff tight. “That’s not what you actually think-”

“Fine, I’m worried about her!” Laurel lashed out. “Of course I am! She’s me!” She pointed out at the window, but when Hakade looked that way, he couldn’t see anything but darkness outside.

“Ca- calm down, Laurel.”

“How!? My original just came into my life, said some cryptic shit, and then walked off, leaving me full of fear and uncertainty. How can I be calm!?”

Ana and Mia fell silent. This was true for both of them. They were variants of Laurel Anamia. Both of them shared this side with Laurel.

“... Do you want to go look for her?” Hakade asked.

She did leave on foot. They could catch up if they use Scorpion.

“I don't know!” Laurel shouted and left the train.